Vatican Bank Probe Leads to Three Arrests

Prelate, Broker and Member of Italian Secret Service Arrested

By

Gilles Castonguay in Milan and

Liam Moloney in Rome

Updated June 28, 2013 3:13 p.m. ET

Italian financial police Friday detained a Vatican accountant, a financial broker and a former member of the country's secret services in connection with an alleged plot to smuggle millions in cash into Italy.

The investigation—involving €20 million ($26.1 million) allegedly secreted in a Swiss bank—comes just months after Pope Francis took office pledging to clean up the Holy See's scandal-plagued government.